Vacuum breaker

ABSTRACT

A vacuum breaker includes a hollow bushing with an end in communication with the atmosphere and the other end in communication with at least one water outlet, a check plugger moveably disposed in the bushing, and a sealing sleeve disposed in the bushing adjacent to the upper end of the check plugger. The check plugger falls automatically down by gravity. The check plugger has a conical upper end. The upper end has a closing surface. The sealing sleeve is defined with a central hole receiving the upper end of the check plugger. An inner conical surface is formed in the inner wall of the central hole. The inner conical surface is closely abutted against by the closing surface.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a vacuum breaker for plumbing fixtures, and particularly to a vacuum breaker having a check plugger, and the check plugger automatically falls down by gravity in an event of pressure drop in the clean water supply to provide a back flow protection for the plumbing fixtures.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Plumbing codes typically require back flow protection when a plumbing outlet is likely to be adjacent contaminated water. Vacuum breakers provide the back flow protection for plumbing fixtures especially fixtures such as pull out sprayers for kitchen sinks and hand held showers for bathroom use. The vacuum breakers prevent the sprayers and showers from drawing contaminated water into the clean water supply in an event of pressure drop in the clean water supply. When water supply is suddenly stopped, the event of pressure drop of water occurs in the pipe of the plumbing fixtures. If the sprayers or the showers are simultaneously adjacent contaminated water, the contaminated water may be sucked into the pipe through the sprayers or showers without the back flow protection, and then pollutes the clean water supply.

To overcome the above problem, many of the plumbing fixtures are equipped with the conventional vacuum breakers to provide the back flow protection.

A conventional vacuum breaker includes a check plugger and a resilient member, such as a resilient plate or a compression spring and is mounted in a plumbing fixture, such as a tap faucet. The check plugger is movably disposed in an air intake of the tap. The air intake communicates simultaneously with the atmosphere and the inside of the tap.

The resilient member is disposed in the tap with an end abutting against the check plugger to force the check plugger outward. In a normal operation state, the resilient member provides a resilient force to push the check plugger to close the air intake thereby preventing water from discharging out of the tap through the air intake. When the event of pressure drop in the water supply is occurred, the atmosphere pushes the check plugger inward to open the air intake because of pressure difference. The movement of the check plugger compresses simultaneously the resilient member. Thus, air can enter the inside of the tap faucet through the air intake to break the vacuum state in the tap to provide the back flow protection.

However, since the check plugger needs to compress initially the resilient member to open the air intake, the vacuum breaker needs an initial pressure to move the check plugger. The atmosphere outside the tap needs to overcome the initial pressure and then to move the spring-loaded check plugger. Therefore, the resilient member should be made in a precise manner to accommodate with the atmosphere, which is complicated and high cost. Furthermore, the resilient member is positioned at a moist condition, which affects unfavorably the operation of the resilient member to control opening or closing of the air intake. Therefore, the conventional vacuum breaker cannot provide a reliable back flow protection for the plumbing fixture. The contaminated water may still be sucked into the plumbing fixtures and pollutes the clean water supply.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum breaker which has a check plugger to control outside air entering a plumbing fixture, and the check plugger will automatically fall down by gravity in an event of pressure drop.

To achieve the above object, a vacuum breaker of in accordance with the present invention includes a hollow bushing with an end in fluid communication with the atmosphere and the other end in fluid communication with at least one water outlet, a check plugger moveably disposed in the bushing, and a sealing sleeve disposed in the bushing adjacent to the upper end of the check plugger. The check plugger is mounted in a vertical manner and will automatically fall down by gravity when an event of water pressure drop is occurred. Therefore, the vacuum breaker provides a reliable back flow protection for plumbing fixture. Moreover, the structure of the vacuum breaker is simple and inexpensive for assembly and manufacture.

Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will be drawn from the following detailed embodiment of the present invention with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a vacuum breaker in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and the vacuum breaker is mounted in a water diverter;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the water diverter in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an operational, sectional view of the water diverter in FIG. 1, when the vacuum breaker is operated responding to an event of pressure drop; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, sectional and operational view of the vacuum breaker in FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a vacuum breaker 1 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention is disposed at a water diverter connected to a water supply and a shower tap. The vacuum breaker 1 in accordance with the present invention may also be mounted in a plumbing fixture for kitchen sinks or in a shower tap. The water diverter includes a pipe connector 2. The pipe connector 2 has a first water outlet 21 and a second water outlet 22 that are respectively connected to a hand held device such as a showerhead and a spout of the shower tap.

The diverter valve further includes a housing 6 and a central shaft 3 disposed in the housing 6. The housing 6 is connected with the pipe connector 2. The central shaft 3 is partially held in and by the pipe connector 2 and is hollow with two end openings. One of the end openings of the central shaft 3 is connected with a bushing 11, and the other end opening is connected with a check valve 5. The bushing 11 is connected with a handle shaft 4. The handle shaft 4 can switch water flow to exit the diverter valve through either the first water outlet 21 or the second water outlet 22 and can be coupled to a tap handle. The central shaft 3 has multiple through holes 30. The through holes 30 are defined in fluid communication with the water outlets 21, 22. The handle shaft 4 has a plurality of air intakes 41 defined outside the housing 6. The air intakes 41 communicate with the through holes 30 through the hollow handle shaft 4, the bushing 11 and the central shaft 3.

The vacuum breaker 1 is disposed in the bushing 11 and includes a check plugger 10 and a sealing sleeve 12. The check plugger 10 is movably disposed in the bushing 11 in a vertical manner and has an upper end 101. The upper end 101 is tapered or conical and has a closing surface 102. The check plugger 10 further has a plurality of protrusions 103 formed adjacent to the closing surface 102. The protrusions 103 provide a gap between the check plugger 10 and the bushing 11 for allowing passage of air. Furthermore, the protrusions 103 will guide the movement of the check plugger 10 in the busing 11 in a smooth manner.

The sealing sleeve 12 is mounted in the bushing 11 at a position adjacent to the upper end 101 of the check plugger 10 and has a central hole 121. The central hole 121 has an inner wall. The inner wall has an inner conical surface 122 corresponding to the closing surface 102. The inner conical surface 122 is closely abutted against by the closing surface 102 in a normal operation.

Further referring to FIG. 4, the vacuum breaker 1 may further include a leakage prevention device that is disposed between the closing surface 102 and the inner conical surface 122. The leakage prevention device includes at least one annular ring such as two annular rings 123. The annular rings are formed on the inner conical surface 122 and will be deformed thereby achieving a better water leakage prevention effect when the closing surface 102 abuts against the inner conical surface 122. The annular rings 123 can also facilitate the closing surface 102 to disengage the inner conical surface 122. Alternatively, the annular rings 123 can be formed on the closing surface 102.

Referring to FIG. 2, in the normal operation, water flow is switched to either the first water outlet 21 or the second water outlet 22 through the water diverter. A portion of the water flow enters the central shaft 3 through the through hole 30, passes through the check valve 5 and then pushes the check plugger 10. The check plugger 10 is pushed upwardly to render the upper end 101 of the check plugger 10 to enter the central hole 121 of the sealing sleeve 12 until the closing surface 102 closely abuts against the inner conical surface 122. The contact between the two surfaces 102,122 prevents the vacuum breaker 1 from leakage of the water.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, when the event of water pressure drop is occurred such as the water supply is suddenly stopped, the check plugger 10 is not pushed by the water flow. The check plugger 10 automatically falls down by gravity and opens the vacuum breaker 1. Thus, the closing surface 102 disengages the inner conical surface 122, which forms a gap 14 between the two surfaces 102,122. Therefore, air (shown in arrows) enters the inside of the diverter valve through the air intakes 41, the handle shaft 4, the bushing 11, the gap 14 and the central shaft 3, and then passes through the through hole 30 to break vacuum status inside the water diverter valve.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been set forth for the purpose of disclosure, modifications of the disclosed embodiment of the invention as well as other embodiments thereof may occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to cover all embodiments which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention. 

1. A vacuum breaker mounted in a plumbing fixture with at least one water outlet connected to a hand held device, and the vacuum breaker comprising: a hollow bushing having a first end in fluid communication with the atmosphere and a second end in fluid communication with the at least one water outlet; a check plugger moveably disposed in the hollow bushing in a vertical manner and having a conical upper end with a closing surface; and a sealing sleeve disposed in the hollow bushing adjacent to the upper end of the check plugger, and having a central hole defined completely through the sealing sleeve, the central hole having an inner wall with an inner conical surface, and the inner conical surface being closely abutted by the closing surface; whereby the check plugger will automatically fall down by gravity when an event of pressure drop of water is occurred in the plumbing fixture.
 2. The vacuum breaker as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a leakage prevention device mounted between the closing surface and the inner conical surface.
 3. The vacuum breaker as claimed in claim 2, wherein the leakage prevention device includes at least one annular ring formed on the inner conical surface.
 4. The vacuum breaker as claimed in claim 1, wherein the check plugger further has a plurality of protrusions adjacent to the closing surface.
 5. The vacuum breaker as claimed in claim 3, wherein the check plugger further has a plurality of protrusions adjacent to the closing surface.
 6. A water diverter valve for a plumbing fixture, and the water diverter valve comprising: a pipe connector having a first water outlet and a second water outlet; a housing connected to the pipe connector; a hollow central shaft disposed in the housing and partially held in and by the pipe connector, the central shaft having two end openings and at least one through hole in fluid communication with the first and second water outlets; a bushing connected with the central shaft; a hollow handle shaft connected with the bushing, and having an outside end and a plurality of air intakes defined adjacent to the outside end of the handle shaft, wherein the air intakes, each of the at least one through hole, the hollow handle shaft, the bushing and the hollow central shaft are in fluid communication with each other; and a vacuum breaker disposed in the bushing, the vacuum breaker comprising a check plugger moveably disposed in the hollow bushing in a vertical manner and having a conical upper end with a closing surface; and a sealing sleeve disposed in the hollow bushing adjacent to the upper end of the check plugger, and having a central hole defined completely through the sealing sleeve, the central hole having an inner wall with an inner conical surface, and the inner conical surface being closely abutted by the closing surface; whereby the check plugger will automatically fall down by gravity to define a gap between the closing surface and the inner conical surface thereby allowing air enter through the air intakes, the handle shaft, the gap, the central shaft and the through hole when an event of pressure drop of water is occurred in the plumbing fixture.
 7. The water diverter valve as claimed in claim 6, further comprising a leakage prevention device disposed between the closing surface and the inner conical surface.
 8. The water diverter valve as claimed in claim 7, wherein the leakage prevention device includes at least one annular ring formed on the inner conical surface.
 9. The water diverter valve as claimed in claim 6, wherein the check plugger further has a plurality of protrusions adjacent to the closing surface.
 10. The water diverter valve as claimed in claim 8, wherein the check plugger further has a plurality of protrusions adjacent to the closing surface. 